the big difference is that the bar pressure, relative to the 2010 SB is way way less. im on vacation and have had about 15 days in the last 3 weeks... and although generally light conditions (12-17), my elbow joints were taking a beating from pulling in on the 2010 SB!

honestly, i just thought this was "normal" until i read through some threads on this forum last week. For beginner and intermediate kiters.... i think that we still use the pressure of the bar as reassurance and occasionally as a counterbalance. With the 2013 SB the change over the 2010 bar-pressure is, well, sort of remarkable.

although i have tried some other brands (Ozone, Slingshot, Naish) but i was never to make an apples-to-apples comparison due to kite size or conditions, etc. Compared to the SB 2010, i would say 25-30% less bar pressure... or just "way lighter".

Does the kite turn faster? thats a tough one.... with the lightness of bar pressure i really couldnt tell if the kite turned faster, or if my brain was just unused to pulling with much less effort. i would say, if it is faster turning, its only moderately. But its certainly not turning slower.

As usual with the all-around SB, the kite is really stable

I did not get a chance to relaunch from the water but with the 2010, i'd expect it to be easy. i did not rig the kite, nor break it down either.

If i had to say what was suspect.... i would be suspicious of a slight decrease in low end grunt. the first time i tried the kite was really light wind (and dropping)... like 12 knots (10-13). (i was actually coming in to land due to the wind dropping, when i got the chance to demo).

that time the 2013 SB was moving along just like my 2010 SB, but on pops and "jumps" (with a big wide twintip), i felt that the 2013 lacked the low end grunt of the 2010. Again, due to the big difference of the bar pressure and flagging wind, i am not sure this is true (there really is that big of a difference in bar pressure between the 2010 and the 2013).

On the other hand, in low marginal wind, the 2010 SB "groans" up and down when pumping through lulls- its work!..... i did not feel this way with the 2013 SB.

the second time, there was 14+knots of wind (13-16) and the 2013 SB felt great.... powered, stable, ... just SB reassuring. that was the session that convinced me it was a good move to upgrade.

I was working at the time we had some 2013 Cab kites to test out, particularly the S/B. My boss and coworkers tried it out, they said it did turn faster, but did not have quite the same grunt pull of the 2012 which is what we teach on. I would imagine the relaunch is slightly better given the shape but I associate all relaunch problems with the powerdrive spring on Cabrinha bars these days. I cut 3.75 inches off my school quiver.

I've heard the new switchblade is a cross between the 2012 SB and Nomad

I see the Nomad is gone for 2013 and if you compare the photos the 2013 SB looks like a 5 strut nomad to me.

Light bar pressure and fast steering help confirm the suspicions as well.

I have a 14m and 7m on order. I have a 9 & 12 quiver of 2012 SB's currently. Depending on how much less low end the new 14m has I may end up selling the 12m to just have a 7, 9, 14 quiver.

We'll see. Looking forward to getting some first hand experience on the 2013's. I hope they didn't cut too much grunt out of the design even though I understand they had to do something to improve the light wind relaunch.

I had a chance to ride by buddies 12m SB 2013 this week and it was very gusty. I had my 2011 RRD Obsession pumped up as well and rode back to back on both kites. I also own a 2010 10m SB.

My Obsession 12m and the 2010 SB 10m have almost the same low end. The 2010 SB is a big booster kite even when only moderately powered. The RRD needs to be well powered to boost well. I kind of miss the boost a bit on the RRD when only moderately powered. So I was always thinking I might buy a 12m SB if they get a bit quicker.

So now to what I think about the new SB? It is more reactive then past model years with lighter bar pressure. A lot less bar pressure than the 2010 model. What I love on the 2010 10m SB is the great pull and jumping power. I expected good boosting power in the 2013 but it was very disappointing. The aggressive easy access lift is gone! Truck like low end pull is gone! What happened? I came in and adjusted to the upper most knot to see if that maybe gives me the punch I was looking for. Nope. No advantage to my RRD Obsession at all.

If I get another chance I will fly the 2010 10m back to back with the 2013 12m but I am pretty confident that I can get riding on the 10m at the same time as with the new 2013. This feels just wrong to me. Now the good news. The new SB is very easy to ride, it turns faster in the sky. Stays super stable in strong gusts.

Verdict: I would not trade it for my 2011 12m Obsession. I have not tried the 10m but I would not upgrade my 2010 10m ether. I love to jump and boost as high as possible. I love to ride smaller kites when ever possible. I am on the 10m when most others are on 12's and I'm still on the 10m when others ride the 9m's (the SB effect as I call it). I weigh 163lbs.

I had high hopes on the 2013 model and I want to hear from other people what the think.

Received my 2013 SB and I tried them 3 times so far as it is quite cold now in Canada. I rode them with the factory set up and I also noticed that there is less low end this year. For 2013 I might have to use a size bigger than my 2012 SB. The 2013 turns faster which is good for looping the kite and the bar pressure is a lot less than previous years which I like a lot. Because it has less low end jumping is a different game, I am still working on my timing. Next time I will try different set ups to see which one is best for me. I am an old school freerider and I have been riding SB's for 5 years. Conclusion: You can't have it all, we asked Cabrinha for less bar pressure and faster turning speed and they delivered but the downside is less low end. BTW the construction and the quality of the 2013 SB are top notch.Mario

daspi wrote:I had a chance to ride by buddies 12m SB 2013 this week and it was very gusty. I had my 2011 RRD Obsession pumped up as well and rode back to back on both kites. I also own a 2010 10m SB.

My Obsession 12m and the 2010 SB 10m have almost the same low end. The 2010 SB is a big booster kite even when only moderately powered. The RRD needs to be well powered to boost well. I kind of miss the boost a bit on the RRD when only moderately powered. So I was always thinking I might buy a 12m SB if they get a bit quicker.

So now to what I think about the new SB? It is more reactive then past model years with lighter bar pressure. A lot less bar pressure than the 2010 model. What I love on the 2010 10m SB is the great pull and jumping power. I expected good boosting power in the 2013 but it was very disappointing. The aggressive easy access lift is gone! Truck like low end pull is gone! What happened? I came in and adjusted to the upper most knot to see if that maybe gives me the punch I was looking for. Nope. No advantage to my RRD Obsession at all.

If I get another chance I will fly the 2010 10m back to back with the 2013 12m but I am pretty confident that I can get riding on the 10m at the same time as with the new 2013. This feels just wrong to me. Now the good news. The new SB is very easy to ride, it turns faster in the sky. Stays super stable in strong gusts.

Verdict: I would not trade it for my 2011 12m Obsession. I have not tried the 10m but I would not upgrade my 2010 10m ether. I love to jump and boost as high as possible. I love to ride smaller kites when ever possible. I am on the 10m when most others are on 12's and I'm still on the 10m when others ride the 9m's (the SB effect as I call it). I weigh 163lbs.

I had high hopes on the 2013 model and I want to hear from other people what the think.

I had a chance to ride the 7m on my last trip to Hatteras. I had a blast. No complaints in that size. Very balanced kite and plenty pull for a 7m, jumping is great too. It seems to me they hit it with the smaller sizes but the larger ones lack low end and pop from previous years model. 7m got my nod, 12m not.